Louisville, KY – – Tailspin Ale Fest is toasting to 6 years hosting one of the Best Beer Fests in the Country on Saturday, February 16!

“Tailspin 2018 was another successful year, raising more than $10,000 for Dare to Care and expanding the event footprint as well as continuing to raise the bar for craft beer in Louisville. For the 4th year in a row, Tailspin Ale Fest was honored as one of the Top 10 US Beer Fests in USA Today ‘s Reader Choice Awards. We are honored to be named among some of the best beer festivals in the world and even more proud to bring a spotlight on a city that we love so much. Louisville is a special place for residents, visitors and more recently, beer lovers and we hope that we have played a small part in that.” States Co-Founder of the Fest, Trevor Cravens

For Tailspin 2019, we are excited to announce some new faces and new plans for Tailspin 2019.

We are excited to announce Cox’s Smoker’s Outlet and Spirit’s Shoppe and Evergreen Liquors as our 2019 Presenting Sponsors.Their numerous locations around Louisville and new tasting bar at the Evergreen store will provide ample opportunity for showcasing the beers of Tailspin and even provide access to a few surprises planned for December and January. “As a local, family owned business, Cox’s and Evergreen Liquors are extremely excited to partner with the premier craft beer festival in Louisville, Tailspin! Cox’s and Evergreen both pride itself on having one of the best craft beer selections in Louisville and this partnership makes perfect sense to continue to grow our reputation as a craft beer destination. Working with Tailspin in order to raise funds for Dare to Care at each of our neighborhood locations will just continue Cox’s and Evergreen’s commitment to creating a stronger Louisville through our multiple charitable programs. We look forward to seeing everyone in our stores and at Tailspin this year as we celebrate Craft Beer!” Mike Fisk – Cox’s Smoker’s Outlet and Spirit’s Shoppe and Evergreen Liquors.

Tailspin 2019 is completely outdoors. The hangar that we have utilized for the last five years is not currently up to code for hosting events, but we have received such enthusiasm from the airport and the city about Tailspin that we are committed to keeping Tailspin at Bowman Field and hope to return to the hangar in the future. We will utilize the area outside of the hangar to build a sort of Tailspin tent city winter wonderland that will give the event a very different look and feel for the attendees. We are drawing off our own experiences at other outdoor winter festivals across the country as expertise of our tent partners to create a fun and vibrant scene for our beer lovers. Don’t fret, there will be heaters, but we are embracing the outdoors as Louisville’s Winter Warmer. Then again, maybe it will be 60 or 70F, as in years past!

Our shuttle program is returning in 2019 with new stops in Germantown and Jeffersontown for expanded access to our attendees. Our partnership with Cox’s gives us a great hub at their Ruckreigal store in JTown to offer shuttle service to and from Tailspin from a new area. We are also excited to announce that our continued partnership with Eiderdown and NachBar will provide an opportunity to expand this service to Germantown. In 2018, we shuttled more than 600 attendees from remote locations to and from the event to allow for easier entry and exit and safer transportation. Also, our shuttle drop-off and pick-up locations will offer shuttle riders a direct entry to the event as well as relieve congestion at the main gate.

For the first time ever, Tailspin Ale Fest will offer a Stay and Play Package with tickets and hotel rooms bundled for a complete weekend plan. In 2018, we welcomed more than 800 guests from outside Jefferson County, including more than 300 from twenty-one states outside of Kentucky. We are working with the Hilton Garden Inn – St. Matthews to develop packages for out of town guests and even staycationers to purchase lodging and event tickets in one place for a discounted rate. The packages may include things like breakfast, shuttle rides to the event and even a welcome package for local businesses. These packages will be available for purchase Dec 15th.

A new programming feature for Tailspin will be the Cox’s Cigar Pavilion. With such a longstanding tradition as Louisville’s hub for fine cigars, it seemed like the perfect addition to our event. Plus, cigars and winter warmer beers like barrel-aged stouts make for a great opportunity to create pairings.

The popular Drake’s Silent Disco is returning with an expanded footprint. The dance party that no one heard was such a hit in 2018 that we are bringing it back with more space and more headsets to keep people moving. We can’t promise Nappy Roots is going to make another cameo, but we will have two DJ’s spinning tunes to keep people moving and stay warm.